Apparatus and method for physical interaction over a distance using a telecommunication device

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus that permit two users to physically interact with one another from a distance using their telecommunication device are disclosed. In an exemplary method, a connection between the telecommunication devices may be established and an indication of inputs at the first and second telecommunication devices received. The inputs may be verified to have been input at the telecommunication devices either substantially simultaneously or overlapping in time. A signal may be sent to the telecommunication devices instructing them to provide a physically perceptible output responsive to verification of substantially simultaneous or overlapping inputs.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application relates to, and claims the benefit of the earlierfiling date and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/411,792, filed on Nov. 9, 2010, and entitled “Apparatus And MethodFor Physical Interaction Over A Distance Using A TelecommunicationDevice.”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a system and method forenabling the telecommunication devices of two or more users to interactphysically with one another over a distance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telecommunication devices, mobile, landline or other, are increasinglyused to provide communication between one or more persons. Communicationusing these telecommunication devices may be in the form of voicecommunication, text messages, instant messaging, sound (e.g., audiblealerts), video, picture, or multi-media information. Voice communicationmay be with one person or with more than one person in the form of athree-way call or a conference call. Text, audible, picture, video, andmulti-media information may also be sent to one person or more than oneperson using the multiple address function that is common intelecommunication devices.

For voice communication, the caller may dial a number from histelecommunication device and the call may be routed through thetelecommunication network to the recipient's telecommunication device.Alternatively, the call may be routed through the Internet, or acombination of the Internet and the telecommunication network. Therecipient's telecommunication device may inform the recipient throughevents such as an audible alert, vibration, visual indicator or someother means, or combination of visual, tactile and audible signals, ofthe incoming call. Once aware of the incoming call, the recipient maychoose to receive the call and communicate with the caller, or maychoose to ignore the call. Likewise, the caller may send a message inthe form of a text message, picture, audio file or indicator, videorecording, or other multimedia content to one or more recipients. Thesemessages may be routed through the telecommunication network and/or theInternet to the recipient's telecommunication device. The recipient'stelecommunication device may alert the recipient of the incomingmessage, and the recipient may view and respond to the incoming messageor may choose to view them later at a convenient time.

All of these modes of communication require the caller to send a voice,audible, text, video, picture, or multimedia message, which are thendelivered to the recipient. The recipient may respond to the incomingmessage when he is notified of their arrival or may do so later. Inthese cases, the communication between the caller and the recipient isnot instantaneous; there is at least a lag equivalent to the time takento deliver the voice or message from one telecommunication device to theother over the telecommunication network or the Internet. Moreover, noneof these modes of communication provides the sensation of physicalinteraction referred to herein as “touch,” whether such physicalinteraction be perceived through tactile, aural, or visual sensation,when communicating with one or more persons. Neither do any of thepresent modes of communication using a telecommunication device permitthe caller and the recipient to simultaneously share the same ordifferent physical sensory stimulus so that they perceive that they arephysically interacting with one another over a period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Responsive to the foregoing challenges, Applicants have developed amethod for simulating physical interaction between a caller and arecipient using telecommunication devices, the method comprising:providing a server to communicate with the telecommunication devices;registering the telecommunication devices with the server; establishinga communication link between the telecommunication devices in responseto conformation of registration of the devices at the server; receivingan indication of substantially simultaneous input occurring at thecaller's and the recipient's telecommunication devices; and providing aphysically perceptible output at the caller's and/or recipient'stelecommunication devices in response to verification of thesubstantially simultaneous input at both the caller's and recipient'sdevices.

Applicants have also developed a method for simulating physicalinteraction between a caller and a recipient using telecommunicationdevices, the method comprising: providing a server to communicate withthe telecommunication devices; subscribing the telecommunication deviceswith the server; placing a call using an application installed on thetelecommunication devices; authenticating the caller's telecommunicationdevice with the server; authenticating a recipient's telecommunicationdevice with the server; synchronizing the caller's and recipient'stelecommunication devices; receiving indication of inputs at thecaller's and recipient's telecommunication devices; verifying whetherthe inputs at the caller's and recipient's telecommunication devices aresubstantially simultaneous; and providing a physically perceptibleoutput at the caller's and recipient's telecommunication devicesresponsive to verification of substantially simultaneous inputs.

Applicants have further developed a method for simulating physicalinteraction between a caller and a recipient using the caller's andrecipient's telecommunication devices, the method comprising: providinga server to communicate with the telecommunication devices; subscribingthe telecommunication devices with the server; establishing a connectionbetween the telecommunication devices; authenticating the caller'stelecommunication device with the server; authenticating the recipient'stelecommunication device with the server; receiving indication of inputsat the caller's and recipient's telecommunication devices; verifyingthat the inputs at the caller's and recipient's telecommunicationdevices overlapped in time; and providing a physically perceptibleoutput at the caller's and recipient's telecommunication devicesresponsive to verification of overlapping inputs.

Still further, Applicants have developed an innovative method forsimulating physical interaction between users of first and secondtelecommunication devices, the method comprising: establishing aconnection between the telecommunication devices; receiving indicationof inputs at the first and second telecommunication devices; verifyingthat the inputs at the telecommunication devices overlapped in time; andsending one or more signals to the telecommunication devices to providea physically perceptible output at the telecommunication devicesresponsive to verification of overlapping inputs.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only,and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to assist the understanding of this invention, reference willnow be made to the appended drawings, in which like reference charactersrefer to like elements. The drawings are exemplary only, and should notbe construed as limiting the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of a process for registering withthe WLC Server.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram of a process for simulatingphysical interaction between a caller's telecommunication device and arecipient's telecommunication device.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary block diagram of the process for initiating andterminating a “touch” sensation between the telecommunication devices oftwo device users.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

As embodied herein, the WooW Love Connection (“WLC”) allows thetelecommunication devices of two users to provide physical interactionwith one another from a distance using their telecommunication devices.Embodiments of the present invention may include both apparatus andmethods for allowing the telecommunication devices of two or more usersto provide physical interaction with one another from a distance.

The various methods discussed herein may be implemented betweentelecommunication devices that are connected through a telecommunicationnetwork or over the Internet. One skilled in the art will recognize thatthe present invention can be implemented using any type of communicationdevice, including but not limited to conventional telephones, wirelesstelephones, cell telephones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs),personal communication devices, PDAs, smart phones, or any communicationdevice capable of transmitting and receiving information, including, forexample, handheld email devices, handheld computers, desktop computers,laptop computers, and the like. Accordingly, any particular structureand design of the telecommunication devices is merely one example of aphysical device for implementing the techniques of the presentinvention, and is referred to for illustrative purposes and not to implyany limitations on the scope of the present invention. To the extentthat embodiments of the present invention require electronic componentsand circuits, which are generally known to those skilled in the art,circuit details are not specified in order to not distract from theteachings of the present invention.

The telecommunication device may include a screen, which may be a liquidcrystal display (LCD), or other type of display for presenting output tothe user, including representations of dialing buttons, menus, and thelike. The telecommunication device may also include one or moremechanisms for accepting input from the user. In one embodiment, thescreen is touch-sensitive, so that the user may interact with thetelecommunication device by touching or writing on the surface of screenusing a stylus, finger, or other object. Touch screens may receiveinputs other than those used to select numeric or text symbols. Forexample, a touch screen may be rubbed or received a patterned tactileinput. In another embodiment, in addition to, or as a surrogate for, thetouch-sensitive screen, the telecommunication device may also include aQWERTY keyboard, or any other type of keyboard or button basedinterface, for enabling rapid entry of an input, including text, and mayfurther include buttons for performing various other functionsassociated with the operation of the telecommunication device and itsapplications.

Reference will now be made in detail to a first embodiment of thepresent invention, an example of which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. A first embodiment of the present invention isshown in FIGS. 1-3. With reference to FIG. 1, the process of subscribinga phone number to the WLC application is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, theuser may log on to the WLC server, subscribe its telecommunicationdevice to the WLC server. After the subscription process is completed,the status of the telecommunication device of the user on the WLC servermay be set to active. After the status of the user's telecommunicationdevice is set to active, the subscription of the user'stelecommunication device may be advertised to other WLC users. The phonecontact list of the telecommunication device of the user may then becompared to the list of subscribers on the WLC server. The address bookfor the WLC application that may be installed on the userstelecommunication device may then be populated with the contacts thatthe user has in his telecommunication device, who are also registered onthe WLC server. The contact for the user's telecommunication device maythen be shared with the contacts in the address book of the user's WLCapplication.

FIG. 2 displays the process for calling and simulating physicalinteraction with a person using the WLC application. To establishcommunication with the telecommunication device of a person using theWLC application, the WLC application on the caller's telecommunicationdevice may be opened. The address book of the WLC application may thenbe accessed, and a contact may be selected. A communication link withthe selected contact may be initiated, for example, by tapping thecontact on the touch screen of the telecommunication device. Tapping thecontact on the touch screen may trigger a call to the selected recipientthrough the telecommunication network or the Internet, while alsoinitiating a connection with the WLC server. After the connection withthe WLC server is established, the WLC server may authenticate theconnection with the caller's telecommunication device, register thecalling telecommunication device, and attempt to create a communicationlink between the caller's telecommunication device and the recipient'stelecommunication device.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the call is received by the telecommunicationdevice of the intended recipient, the WLC application that is running onthe recipient's telecommunication device verifies whether the caller isusing WLC. If the recipient's WLC application identifies thetelecommunication device of the caller as a WLC user, then the WLCapplication may register the telecommunication device of the caller withthe WLC server and attempt to create a communication link with thecaller's telecommunication device through the WLC Server. The WLC servermay require authentication of the recipient's telecommunication devicebefore permitting registration with the server and allowing the creationof the communication link. While the communication link is beingestablished between the telecommunication device of the caller and therecipient, the WLC application for both the caller and the recipient maydisplay, for example, any one of the three screen states: anintroductive splash screen, an intermediate screen that shows theconnection is being processed, and/or a final screen where the callerand recipient can experience the “Touch” feeling. This screen may havetwo buttons, an exit button and a speaker button.

When the caller places the call from the WLC Application, histelecommunication device may simultaneously attempt to log in to the WLCServer. Likewise, when the recipient's telecommunication deviceidentifies the caller as a WLC subscriber, it may attempt to log on tothe WLC Server while simultaneously receiving the call. After thetelecommunication device of the caller and the recipient have beenauthenticated and logged in to the WLC server, they may be registered inthe server's database as having an operational status. While attemptingto log on to the WLC server, the recipient's WLC application may sendthe caller's phone number to the WLC server to enable the server toconnect the telecommunication device of the caller with thetelecommunication device of the recipient. The WLC server may identifythe caller and the recipient, match the two, and may establish acommunication link between their respective devices. Any action takenafter the synchronization will be sent from the telecommunication deviceof one to the telecommunication device of the other.

As shown in FIG. 3, once the caller and the recipient are in a phonecall or otherwise connected by a communication link, either the calleror the recipient may initiate the “touch” sensation through theirrespective telecommunication devices. When the caller touches the screenof his telecommunication device, for example a smart phone's touchsensitive screen, the recipient's screen may change its state notifyingthe recipient that the caller is touching the screen on the other end.Thereafter, if the recipient touches the screen of her telecommunicationdevice substantially simultaneously or overlapping in time with thetouch input by the caller, both telecommunication devices of the callerand the recipient may provide an output, such as vibrating until thesubstantially simultaneous or overlapping input ceases. Similarly, therecipient can initiate the “touch” sensation, which may be accepted andmaintained by the caller in like fashion. The “touch” feeling may beexperienced when both the caller and the recipient touch the screen atthe substantially simultaneous time or overlapping in time. Thedetermination of whether the touch (i.e., input) by both the caller andthe recipient is substantially simultaneous or overlapping may be madeat the telecommunication devices of the caller or the recipient, or atthe WLC Server, or at any other intermediate server.

The user may change the action that is initiated when the caller and therecipient simultaneously touch the screen of their telecommunicationdevices. Besides vibration, the user may select different types of soundto share, or they may choose to share different types of files, such asaudio, pictures, video clips etc. and the like, and combinationsthereof. The users may also have the option of uploading a picture andusing it as background for the last screen while the application isrunning during the call. Further, the users may also have the option ofuploading a picture to the background of the person they are about tocall. The WLC application screen that is displayed on the user'stelecommunication device may also be split into matrices, and dependingon the portion of the screen that is activated by either the caller orthe recipient, different action may be initiated.

As discussed above, the present invention is not limited to a deviceresembling the particular telecommunication device described above inconnection with the WLC application. In particular, the invention may beimplemented in other types of devices and using other types of input andoutput mechanisms. In addition, the above-described techniques can beused in connection with any type of information or communication modeassociated with a contact, including, for example, SMS addresses orhandles, email addresses, presence information, and the like. Moreover,the above-described techniques can be used in connection with a groupcall when the caller calls one or more than one recipient.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. The algorithms and displays presented herein are notinherently related to any particular computer, network of computers, orother apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used withprograms in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may proveconvenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform therequired method steps. Such a computer program may be stored in acomputer readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, anytype of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, andmagnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random accessmemories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any typeof media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupledto a computer system bus. The required structure for a variety of thesesystems appears from the description. In addition, the present inventionis not described with reference to any particular programming language.It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may beused to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein.

As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the invention may beembodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit oressential characteristics thereof. For example, the particulararchitecture depicted above are merely exemplary of one implementationof the present invention. The functional elements and method stepsdescribed above are provided as illustrative examples of one techniquefor implementing the invention; one skilled in the art will recognizethat many other implementations are possible without departing from thepresent invention as recited in the claims. In addition, the presentinvention may be implemented as a method, process, user interface,computer program product, system, apparatus, or any combination thereof.Accordingly, the disclosure of the present invention is intended to beillustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention. It isintended that the present invention cover all such modifications andvariations of the invention, provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for simulating physical interactionbetween a caller and a recipient using telecommunication devices, themethod comprising: providing a server to communicate with thetelecommunication devices; registering the telecommunication deviceswith the server; establishing a communication link between thetelecommunication devices in response to conformation of registration ofthe devices at the server; receiving an indication of substantiallysimultaneous inputs occurring at the caller's and the recipient'stelecommunication devices; and providing a physically perceptible outputat the caller's and/or recipient's telecommunication devices in responseto verification of the substantially simultaneous inputs at the caller'sand recipient's devices.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least oneinput is a tactile input.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein at least oneinput is an audible input.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the outputis a tactile output.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the tactile outputis a vibration output.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the output is anaudible output.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the output is a visualoutput.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the output is the combinationof two or more outputs selected from the group consisting of: tactile,audible and visual outputs.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the inputsare tactile motions applied to a touch screen which are not used toselect numeric or text symbols on the touch screen.
 10. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising: receiving an indication of a tactile inputfrom the caller's telecommunication device; and sending a notificationof the input of the tactile input to the recipient's telecommunicationdevice in response to the receipt of the indication of the tactile inputat the caller's telecommunication device.
 11. A method for providingphysical interaction between a caller and a recipient usingtelecommunication devices, the method comprising: providing a server tocommunicate with the telecommunication devices; subscribing thetelecommunication devices with the server; placing a call using anapplication installed on the telecommunication devices; authenticatingthe caller's telecommunication device with the server; authenticating arecipient's telecommunication device with the server; synchronizing thecaller's and recipient's telecommunication devices; receiving indicationof inputs at the caller's and recipient's telecommunication devices;verifying whether the inputs at the caller's and recipient'stelecommunication devices are substantially simultaneous; and providinga physically perceptible output at the caller's and recipient'stelecommunication devices responsive to verification of substantiallysimultaneous inputs.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein at least oneinput is selected from the group consisting of: a tactile input and anaudible input.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein the output is atactile output.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the tactile output isa vibration output.
 15. The method of claim 11 wherein the inputs aretactile inputs applied to a touch screen which inputs are not used toselect numeric or text symbols on the touch screen.
 16. The method ofclaim 11 further comprising: receiving an indication of a tactile inputfrom the caller's telecommunication device; and sending a notificationof the input of the tactile input to the recipient's telecommunicationdevice in response to the receipt of the indication of the tactile inputat the caller's telecommunication device.
 17. A method for simulatingphysical interaction between a caller and a recipient using the caller'sand recipient's telecommunication devices, the method comprising:providing a server to communicate with the telecommunication devices;subscribing the telecommunication devices with the server; establishinga connection between the telecommunication devices; authenticating thecaller's telecommunication device with the server; authenticating therecipient's telecommunication device with the server; receivingindication of inputs at the caller's and recipient's telecommunicationdevices; verifying that the inputs at the caller's and recipient'stelecommunication devices overlapped in time; and providing a physicallyperceptible output at the caller's and recipient's telecommunicationdevices responsive to verification of overlapping inputs.
 18. The methodof claim 17 wherein at least one input is selected from the groupconsisting of: a tactile input and an audible input.
 19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the output is a tactile output.
 20. The method of claim19 wherein the tactile output is a vibration output.
 21. The method ofclaim 17 wherein the inputs are tactile inputs applied to a touch screenwhich inputs are not used to select numeric or text symbols on the touchscreen.
 22. A method for simulating physical interaction between usersof first and second telecommunication devices, the method comprising:establishing a connection between the telecommunication devices;receiving an indication of an input from the first telecommunicationdevice; sending a notification of the input to the secondtelecommunication device in response to the receipt of the indication ofthe input at the first telecommunication device; receiving indication aninput at the second telecommunication device; verifying that the inputsat the first and second telecommunication devices overlapped in time;and sending one or more signals to the telecommunication devices toprovide a physically perceptible output at the telecommunication devicesresponsive to verification of overlapping inputs.
 23. The method ofclaim 22 wherein at least one input is selected from the groupconsisting of: a tactile input and an audible input.
 24. The method ofclaim 23 wherein the output is a tactile output.
 25. The method of claim24 wherein the tactile output is a vibration output.
 26. The method ofclaim 22 wherein the inputs are tactile inputs applied to a touch screenwhich inputs are not used to select numeric or text symbols on the touchscreen.